Dealing with Uncertainty: 5 Tips to Create Trust and Patience

So far I’ve gone from Sydney to Melbourne, Melbourne to Moruya, Moruya to Sydney, and Sydney to Brisbane, and my Australian adventure continues.

I’m now about to depart from Brisbane and settle in on the Gold Coast in Queensland for the next few months while I get my yoga teacher certification and continue to explore this beautiful country.

It’s been five months, ten days, and four hours since I landed at the Sydney International airport from Los Angeles. When I first left, I had no real expectations other than to fully experience as much of this country as I could.

I had no specific plans other than to allow myself to be guided closer toward inner peace and freedom. There was no way of knowing how or if things were going to work in my favor.

How can we ever really know if things will ultimately work in our favor?

We can’t necessarily know, but we can absolutely believe they will.

When we re-commit ourselves each day to the possibilities of a bright and incredible life, each day begins to reveal more direction, and the clarity we seek emerges from the uncertainty.

I recently heard Tony Robbins say, “The quality of our lives is directly related to the amount of uncertainty we can live with comfortably.” This has become a daily mantra for me.

When we don’t know where we’re headed, that doesn’t mean we’re heading somewhere undesirable. We can focus on everything that could go wrong, or we can focus on everything that could go right.

Happiness depends upon our ability to make friends with the unknown, to respect and enjoy it, and to fully embrace and welcome it.

Some of my personal goals has been to start my own business and continue finding writing opportunities that pay me and allow me to help others through sharing my experiences.

Some days my head likes to ask me all sorts of crazy questions, like, “How do you intend to pull this off?” “When will all of this provide financial stability?” “What if you never get the opportunity to reach and work with as many people as you want?” “Shouldn’t you consider giving all this up and just doing something a little more reliable?”

I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t have days where I listen to that bugger, but when it gets me down and dark enough I tell it to stuff off! Before long, I’m answering myself and winning the case of Dream Catcher VS. Dream Smasher.

How willing are you to take a step when there is no stepping stone as far as you can see? Can you take the next step, trusting that by the time your foot hits the ground, the next piece of the path will appear?

Will you trust that if there is no walking path, you’ll be able to fly? Maybe you have reached a point where the path for you can only be seen with the faith in your heart rather than with the doubt in your eyes.

About two months after I moved to Sydney, the road appeared to be getting quite narrow regarding financial opportunities. My business was growing and I was doing a good amount of writing.

However, things just didn’t seem to be moving fast enough to provide financial comfort to support the lifestyle I desired.

I knew I had some friends who were about to open an amazing retreat in Victoria, Australia, and I felt like it would be a real gift to get to work with them for a while.

I ended up joining their team when I got here. I spent an incredibly awakening two months with them, and felt nurtured and supported in ways I needed. I also felt just enough unrest to know I didn’t want to commit to them long term.

Sometimes, something can feel much more right than anything we’ve found before it, but somewhere inside we know it’s still not it.

Our intuitive guidance is a great blessing when we couple it with courage.

I left the retreat and followed my intuition to move to the Gold Coast and get my yoga teacher certification. I had no idea how anything was going to work out, but I just so happen to have an enormous amount of amazing family all throughout Queensland and on the Gold Coast, who have been dying to meet me.

Ever since I left the retreat, I’ve been traveling and visiting with family, some whom I’ve met and some who I am meeting for the first time.

I have been totally taken in and taken care of every step of the way. I may not always know if the path will appear, but I keep stepping anyway, and I always find something solid to hold me up while I navigate through the uncertainty by following my instincts.

The thing is, you won’t always know. You will never have all the answers—but you can still maintain patience and trust along the way. These tips may help:

1. When you notice that you’re doubting yourself or your process, stop.

Observe that moment and bring awareness into your body where you are feeling the fear. Notice that you are focusing on everything that could go wrong. Why?

Acknowledge your power to change the direction of your attention. Then begin to shift your thoughts by asking yourself this question: “What are three things that could absolutely go right for me in this situation?”

2. Allow yourself to enjoy the things that go right!

So often we complain about how nothing ever goes right, but when things do work out in our favor, we don’t actually give ourselves the gift of basking in our own powerful creativity. It’s no wonder we feel so defeated all the time.

When something good happens, appreciate it and appreciate yourself for creating it.

3. Let go. Seriously, you have got to surrender the outcomes.

Stop living for tomorrow, for his or her response, for the paycheck, or for some future result.

Happiness depends on our ability to do our part, which is to set our intentions, and then let it go and give it to the Universe to work on. Trust that what you want or even better will come back to you. Maybe not right now, maybe not tomorrow, but it will come when the time is perfect and you are ready to receive it.

In the meantime, laugh, play, love big, get creative, explore, and please…have fun!

4. If it’s not available, you aren’t looking in the right place.

Whatever resources you need are always available for you. They just may not be exactly what or where you assume they should be. Think outside the box. Trust that you are being guided toward more joy and freedom, and thus you may need to listen to what’s showing up rather than getting all distracted by what is not showing up.

5. Whatever you need, ask for it.

It’s the simplest method I know, yet the one I forget the most. Seek out the answer, ask for guidance and courage. There is always help waiting for you to call on it, so call on it. Stay open by asking for the ability to receive the guidance best for you in whatever way it comes.

—

By applying these five tips in my daily life, I have found epic courage, accessed untapped resources, and experienced a level of love and abundance that was once just a dream.

You can do this too.

Dive into the uncertainty and appreciate the mystery for what it is. As you begin to trust that the unknown is a good thing, you will find yourself creating a much happier story for each uncertain situation, and that is precisely what will begin to manifest as your life.

Erin is an Internationally Certified Life Coach, Yoga Instructor, and Motivational Writer and Speaker. Her mission is to inspire as many people as possible to return to their natural state of peace, abundance, health, inspiration & love so they may create the life the deeply desire. Visit her blog and You Tube Page.

great article. period. I agree with Paul that you set an amazing example by the story you preceded with, before giving the tips. Very inspiring.

Erin Lanahan

Thank you! So happy you found it inspiring. It was a pleasure to share 🙂

Erin

Thanks Paul! I defitnitely AM learning and growing sooooo much through all of this. Thanks for sharing! Happy you found something in it for you 🙂

Erin Lanahan

Wow…huge compliment…thank you!! 🙂 Happy you liked it!

erin

So happy you are writing them down 🙂 They help me so much every day!
Thanks so much for reading and for your feedback, It’s alwas a pleasure to share this stuff with others. Good luck over the next few months!

“How willing are you to take a step when there is no stepping stone as far as you can see? Can you take the next step, trusting that by the time your foot hits the ground, the next piece of the path will appear?
Will you trust that if there is no walking path, you’ll be able to fly? Maybe you have reached a point where the path for you can only be seen with the faith in your heart, rather than with the doubt in your eyes.”
Love this quote! Beautifully said as well as captures doubt in its essence. Great post!

Hi Erin
Thanks for the excellent post. I am glad to hear that you are enjoying your travels around Australia. I live in Brisbane so always lovely to hear people making the most of their time in our beautiful country. It is great that you have family here, having someone you know and can connect with is always good when going somewhere different. Of course you are on a much different sort of journey as well, good on you for having the courage to take that step. I liked your point ‘allow yourself to enjoy the things that go right’. So true, I think that is very important and often overlooked. As you said when you are surrounded by uncertainty it can be all to easy to focus on the stuff that didn’t work. I also like your comment on following your instincts. My instincts have gotten me through many interesting moments travelling solo overseas. Over time I have learnt to trust my instincts much more than I did when I was younger. Thanks again for sharing your story and I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Australia. All the best.CheersThea

Vennin

What I don’t like about doubt is that, with me, I start over-thinking things. I think that this path I want to go down is right, then my brain tells me that “That’s cool, but what about this other thing you’re interested in, don’t you want to see where that goes too?”. I’m going through that right now, I would like to go pursue a Masters degree in Library Science but my brain is telling me to think about my love of nutrition and becoming a nutritionist. Now all these lessons of not being good enough that I’ve been telling myself all my life are being battered down. My uncertainty is like a civil war in my mind; one telling me I should definitely explore this, the other telling me it’s a waste of time and just go for the masters. Life shouldn’t be this over-complicated, it really isn’t, but so many of us make it so…impossible.

Austin-Lehman Adventures

Australia has long been on my list of places to visit, and I would have liked to do it the same way you are, to see as much of the country as possible and to experience it all. Thank you for sharing your story and adventure. Love your little tips on finding peace and serenity and on staying positive. Thanks for sharing as always. -Daniella

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